Small krausen after 48 hours

[Waterlogged]

I did and I know you can use it to keep the foam down in the fermentor but we have used it often and we still usually get a huge head of foam in the carboy.  Checked again this morning and still lots of bubbles and co2 chugging in the blow off tube growler.

[fakr]

When used in the correct amount (foam cap), I don't get more than 1/2-3/4" of krausen in my fermenters.   

Any chance you made mineral additions to your mash? 

[Waterlogged]

No additions at all this time in the form of gypsum or epson salts.  I did bring my own water that I had steep chaga mushrooms in the day before for 8 hours.  I guess that may be playing a factor in this.

[Waterlogged]

Well I left them alone until today and am glad I did.  Still lots of bubbling in the airlocks and a slightly smaller coating of foam.  Gravity for 1 is 1.022 and other is 1.024.  The flavour is great.  Rich coffee and malty flavour ending with mild bitterness and notes of chocolate.  The recipe says to leave it in primary for 10 days, then add to secondary with some more coffee for a week and then keg.  I am heading to Halifax tomorrow (Anyone need anything) and back on Wednesday so the earliest I can rack to secondary is Wednesday night or at day 11.  Is that to late to put into secondary?  Should I just add the coffee to the carboy and wait the week or whatever it takes for the FG to stabilize??

[jamie_savoie]

Me personally, I would not secondary. Never tasted a difference, less chance of infection and less work. Win win

[Waterlogged]

Yeah, I was thinking the same.  I used hop bags so there isnnt a whole lot of trub in the bottom.  Will wait till I get home, add the coffee and bottle the following week.

[Chris Craig]

Me personally, I would not secondary. Never tasted a difference, less chance of infection and less work. Win win

I also rarely do a secondary.  If I were keeping the beer in a carboy for an extended period of time, I would do it.  Anything under 30 days...never.

[jamie_savoie]

I also rarely do a secondary.  If I were keeping the beer in a carboy for an extended period of time, I would do it.  Anything under 30 days...never.

I do too.  But I've gone as far as 6 weeks in primary for a kolsch once and it still made a nice clean beer

[Chris Craig]

Autolysis is the concern here, and it takes quite some time to happen.  I say 30 days, and I've had luck with that.  6 weeks, or even 8 is probably fine.  You'll know if you have a problem here. 

John Palmer has a chapter on this: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-3.html

[fakr]

Before the conical fermenters, I only used to secondary to dry hop and clarify the beer...otherwise I'd just leave it in the primary for the duration.

[HappyHax0r]

I dry hop after fermentation in the same carboy that I fermented in. I've yet to suffer autolysis, or even have an off-flavor from it. It's been my experience that 6 to 8 weeks on the lees in a clean sanitized carboy that never gets opened (or only opened for a minute while you sanitize the opening and dump in hops) isn't likely to be an infection vector, and you're not likely to get autolyzed yeast either so long as you keep your temperatures within about the same conditions you'd ferment in or perhaps slightly lower temperatures.